"While other news networks relied on taped coverage for overnight reports, CNN broke the news of a New Orleans levee break at 2:27 a.m. Tuesday morning, confirming it at 3:02 a.m.," an insider says. "CNN provided more than two hours of updates about a massive break at the 17th Street Canal levee before any other network provided its first live report. Fox News flashed a breaking news alert about the break at 3:02 a.m. during a pre-taped package and followed with live coverage at 5 a.m. MSNBC resorted to packaged reports overnight and did not report the levee break until after 8 a.m."